Sir Alan Sugar picks up £35m as Murdoch tells him: 'You're bought'

The star of the BBC's The Apprentice said he had agreed to sell his electronics firm Amstrad to satellite broadcaster BSkyB.

Sir Alan will personally pick up £35 million from the sale as he now only owns 28 per cent of Amstrad's shares.

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Fortune: Sir Alan Sugar (right) has sold his Amstrad electronics company to Rupert Murdoch (left) for £125 million

Sir Alan said: "Amstrad has worked closely with Sky for many years and I cannot imagine a better home for the Amstrad business and its people.

"Our companies share the entrepreneurial spirit of bringing innovation to the largest number of customers. Sky is a great British success story.

"I'm proud to have worked so closely with it and I look forward to continuing to play a part in this exciting business."

The offer sees all of Amstrad's directors including Sir Alan and his son Simon remaining as directors of the business under Sky's ownership.

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Sky buys three out of every 10 of its set-top boxes from Amstrad which designs them in this country but has them built in the Far East. On the other hand Sky now accounts for three quarters of Amstrad's current revenues making it by far Sir Alan's largest client.

James Murdoch, chief executive of Sky, said: "The acquisition accelerates supply chain improvement and will help us to drive innovation and efficiency for the benefit of our customers."

Sir Alan reputedly began his business selling portable television aerials from market stalls in London. Amstrad, which is based on his initials (Alan Michael Sugar Trading), was formed in 1968 and within two years began its first manufacturing of consumer electronics starting with hi-fi turntable covers.

The business was listed on the London stock market in 1980 and doubled in size each year for the rest of that decade.

Amstrad has had its share of successes and failures. Its Amstrad PCW 8256 word processor was the first basic family computer to sell for under £300.

More recently the e-m@iler, which was supposed to see consumer's phone charges reduced by sending advertising down the telephone line, proved far less popular.

The deal comes just two months after Sir Alan sold out of Tottenham Hotspur for £25 million as he said that his future investment plans would centre on his £830 million portfolio of properties in and around London.